This invention relates to a vehicle compartment latch and more particularly to a vehicle compartment latch for latching a vehicle compartment closure, such as a trunk deck lid in the closed position to secure the vehicle compartment.
Passenger vehicles are normally equipped with a rear vehicle compartment for storing a spare tire and transporting items such as groceries and luggage. The compartment, conventionally known as a trunk is closed by a deck lid that is hinged to the vehicle body and swings open to provide access to the compartment. The closure or deck lid is equipped with a compartment latch that cooperates with a striker attached to the vehicle body to latch the closure in the closed position automatically when the deck lid is closed.
A conventional compartment latch comprises a pivotally mounted fork bolt and a cooperating spring biased detent lever. The fork bolt is spring biased to an open or unlatched position where a slot of the fork bolt is poised to receive the striker that is attached to the vehicle body. The detent lever moves between a latched position and a release position and is spring biased toward the latched position. When the deck lid is closed, the striker enters the slot of the fork bolt and pivots or rotates the fork bolt to the latched position. As the fork bolt rotates to the latched position, the fork bolt cams the spring biased detent lever out of the way and then back to the latched position where a catch of the detent lever engages a latch shoulder of the fork bolt and holds the fork bolt in the latched position.
In order to open the deck lid, the detent is moved to the release position releasing the latch shoulder of the fork bolt and allowing the fork bolt to pivot to the open position to release the striker so that the deck lid can be opened. When the fork bolt is released, the seal force, that is, the force of the rubber seal around the deck lid that is compressed when the deck lid is closed, tends to open the deck lid a little and move the striker out of the slot so that the fork bolt rotates to the unlatched position. However, the weight of the deck lid tends to keep the deck lid closed and the striker engaged with the fork bolt so that the fork bolt does not pivot to the unlatched position. Thus the weight of the deck lid vis-a-vis the seal force raises the possibility of the spring biased detent moving back to the latched position and holding the fork bolt in the latched position before the deck lid can be opened manually.
The seal force, that is, the force of the seal around the periphery of the deck lid that is compressed when the deck lid is closed, can be increased to insure that the fork bolt, once released, remains released until the deck lid is opened manually. However, the increased seal force also increases the effort required to close and latch the deck lid in the closed position. Thus this solution is not entirely satisfactory, particularly in the case of heavier deck lids. It is also possible to use a kick-off spring or springs to open the deck lid a little bit when the fork bolt is released. However, this solution also increases the closing effort, adds cost, and increases complexity and space requirements.
This invention provides a vehicle compartment latch insures that the fork bolt, once released, remains released until the deck lid is opened without any need for high seal forces or kick-off springs.
The vehicle compartment latch of the invention has a support that is fastened to a deck lid. A fork bolt is pivotally attached to the support and moved from an unlatched position to a latched position by a striker when the deck lid is closed. The fork bolt is held in the latched position by a moveable detent lever that is moved to a release position to release the fork bolt so that the deck lid can be opened. The closure latch includes a detent lock-out that holds the detent lever in the release position until the deck lid is opened once the fork bolt is released. The detent lock out includes a striker position lever that is moved to an engaged position by the striker being retained by the fork bolt and a detent pawl that holds the detent lever in the released position once the detent lever is released.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.